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Toss New Zealand chose to bat v West Indies
Ross Taylor got off to a winning start at the toss, opting to bat first under sunny conditions in North Sound. New Zealand are coming off a hammering in the Twenty20s and ODIs against a West Indies side inspired by the return of Chris Gayle. The Tests gives them one last chance to leave the islands on a high.
New Zealand welcomed the left-arm quick Neil Wagner to the international fold for the first time. The South Africa-born Wagner only recently qualified for New Zealand, and his exploits on the domestic circuit have been well documented. The visitors will also be boosted by the return of the experienced Test specialists in Daniel Vettori and Chris Martin.
West Indies captain Darren Sammy said he too would have batted first, but would look to his seamers to exploit the swing on offer. One thing home fans can look forward to is Gayle's return to Test whites for the first time since December 2010. Adrian Barath was left out to accommodate him.
West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Kieran Powell, 3 Assad Fudadin, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Narsingh Deonarine,7 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Kemar Roach
New Zealand: 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Daniel Flynn, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor (capt), 5 Brendon McCullum, 6 Dean Brownlie, 7 Kruger van Wyk (wk), 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Doug Bracewell, 10 Neil Wagner, 11 Chris Martin
Ross Taylor got off to a winning start at the toss, opting to bat first under sunny conditions in North Sound. New Zealand are coming off a hammering in the Twenty20s and ODIs against a West Indies side inspired by the return of Chris Gayle. The Tests gives them one last chance to leave the islands on a high.
New Zealand welcomed the left-arm quick Neil Wagner to the international fold for the first time. The South Africa-born Wagner only recently qualified for New Zealand, and his exploits on the domestic circuit have been well documented. The visitors will also be boosted by the return of the experienced Test specialists in Daniel Vettori and Chris Martin.
West Indies captain Darren Sammy said he too would have batted first, but would look to his seamers to exploit the swing on offer. One thing home fans can look forward to is Gayle's return to Test whites for the first time since December 2010. Adrian Barath was left out to accommodate him.
West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Kieran Powell, 3 Assad Fudadin, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Narsingh Deonarine,7 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Kemar Roach
New Zealand: 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Daniel Flynn, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor (capt), 5 Brendon McCullum, 6 Dean Brownlie, 7 Kruger van Wyk (wk), 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Doug Bracewell, 10 Neil Wagner, 11 Chris Martin